A time to RELAX

So this past week was wonderful. Patrick had a retreat planned with Bob Russell and several other preachers at Country Lake Retreat and I had planned to drive with him to Louisville for the week. Well, my doctor said I'm already progressing and advised against the trip just in case I went into labor or my water broke. I didn't want to spend the week worried so I decided not to go. My sweet mom still wanted time with John Ryman so she had Patrick bring him when he drove in on Sunday and she brought JR back to me on Wednesday afternoon. Yes, that meant that I had 4 days alone to clean, decorate, organize, paint, relax, relax relax relax! I am so thankful for the refreshing time I had alone to spend preparing our home & myself for Vera's arrival, lunch time with new & old friends, and tons of errands that I had been putting off because it takes so much longer to bring JR in and out with me. I cleaned the house Sunday night and guess what? It stayed clean until Wednesday!! I painted my nails and actually had time to let them dry in between coats. Patrick was so sweet and scheduled a pregnancy massage for me- my hips and back are still feeling great days later! As sad as I was at the decision to not go into Louisville, the week ended up being just what I needed. Huge thanks to the best Nana spoiling JR for a few days. He played with so many other kids and went on lots of adventures- I'm sure he did not want to come home! Here are some pictures of my mom, sister, cousin Sarah & our sweet friend Issi. They all made the drive to bring the little man home on Wednesday and stayed to play for the afternoon... Wish I could hire Sarah & Issi full time :)

My plan for the summer with an 18mo & a newborn is to sit in the shade and give JR the hose and a cup. He will spend an hour walking around the yard watering flowers, Vali and himself. Then he will spend the next hour taking tiny cups of water from the baby pool across the yard to pour on Vali. He thinks it is hilarious, but by the time he reaches her most of the water has spilled :) She sure puts up with a lot!